Page 85 of Ancient Obsession

Demetrius glanced to Dave. “Or, we could cancel the dinner.”

“No, dinner just slipped my mind, that’s all,” Oliver said.

“Come on.” Dave started for the Earth Sciences building. “Let’s get this rehearsal done so we can all have some down time.”

Their footsteps echoed off the tiles and cinderblock walls of the empty hallway. The intersecting hall, at the end of which the coffin still sat empty and waiting, was swathed in shadows. Oliver shivered and turned away, following Dave through the double doors that led into the botanical gardens.

Clarabell, who they’d asked to be their officiant, had already arrived. She was talking and laughing with the staff. Oliver heard Cody grumble something about her flying in on a broom, followed by a gentle rebuke from Demetrius. When Clarabell saw them, she waved and crossed the patio, giving them each a hug, even tugging Cody down by the shirt for a squeeze.

“This place is gorgeous,” Clarabell said. “I know it’s been a stressful week having to manage a sudden venue change while dealing with…” She glanced at the staff members who were setting up tables and chairs around the stone-tiled space. “Everything else. But you couldn’t have lucked into a more beautiful place.”

“It is pretty amazing.” Dave took Oliver’s hand. “But anywhere I get to marry this guy would be.”

“Come on, bro,” Cody said. “You’re making me look bad here.”

“Don’t listen to him, Dave,” Demetrius countered. “I love how you two are together.” Then he said to Cody, “It’s not a competition. And you do extremely well on your own. Remember the first date you took me on a little while ago?”

The pure lust practically glowing on Cody’s face made Oliver grimace. “Could you two keep them in your pants for, like, an hour? Please?”

Clarabell directed them to their places in front of the wall of blooming plants. Then she had them practice coming down the stone pathways. They’d decided to come in from different paths at the same time, the best men first, followed shortly by the grooms. With the tables and chairs partially set up, along with the bar and a small table for Dave’s old iPod connected to a decent boombox as deejay, Oliver could see that it was all going to work really well.

Why then was he still peering into shadows and noting where the exits were?

Margie had pushed several tables together to form a long row down the center of the diner, and now all five Bower brothers, their parents, Demetrius, Oliver and his grandmother Eileen and her boyfriend Dieter, as well as Demetrius’s Aunt Amelia and her boyfriend Otis, plus Clarabell all sat around them. There was a lot of conversation and even more insults and laughter, all with Margie’s best food served family style.

A massage and blowjob from Dave before his nap had helped fortify him for dinner with the Bower family.

Demetrius sat on his left and his grandmother to his right, sufficiently insulating him from the raucous conversation at the Bower end of the table. Dave sat on the other side of the table and a couple seats to his left, while Greg and Alice Bower sat across from him, beside Amelia and Otis.

“You’ve got some hinky stuff going on, kiddo.” Eileen’s coarse voice was a familiar balm against the chaos swirling in Oliver’s mind.

“Yeah, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks.”

She put an arm around him and pulled him in against her. “You’re holding up well.”

“I was raised by two pretty incredible people.”

“Your father would be very proud of you.”

The sting of tears surprised him. He pressed fingers into the corners of his eyes, trying to push them back. Not trusting his voice to be steady, he settled for a nod.

“Oliver!” Roman’s voice from the other end of the table effectively interrupted his emotional spiral.

“Yes, brother-in-law?” Oliver called back, and everyone laughed.

“I love you,” Eileen said in his ear.

“I love you, too.” He gave her a quick squeeze before removing his arm.

“Are you sure you want to marry this nerdy goofball?”

Roman’s voice was loud and self-assured, and the other diners around them watched their table with a mixture of amusement and irritation. It was a combination of emotions he could definitely relate to when dealing with Dave’s family.

Oliver extended a hand across the table and Dave immediately took it. The way Dave looked at him made it difficult to remember there was anyone else at the table. He squeezed Dave’s hand then looked at Roman, who, of course, sat at the head of the table.

“I have never felt so safe, understood, and supported than the years we’ve been together. I am absolutely ready to be married to him.”

He heard a chorus of “Aw”s followed by clapping. Roman managed a gentle golf clap as well.